Official UK procurement notice
Procurement of Legal Investigation and Advocacy Service in Fitness to Practise
Authority: Social Work England (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Authority is looking for two 2 Suppliers to deliver the following as part of the Service:
a. conduct further investigation and prepare cases for Fitness to Practise hearings or meetings;
b. undertake pre-hearing case management procedures in accordance with agreed performance targets and in collaboration with other parties to the hearing; and
c. ensure the presentation of cases before adjudicators at hearings (those hearings are predominantly carried out remotely using video conferencing software but can, on occasion, be in-person at our offices in Sheffield).
Over a period of 3 - 5 years, the Authority aims to work with the Suppliers to eliminate the current backlog of circa 400 cases awaiting a final hearing. By the end of this period, the intention is to have worked successfully in partnership with the Suppliers to both eliminate the backlog and to be managing a 'steady state' of circa 150 cases being processed per annum.
This contract has a maximum value of £40.9 million. Contract 1 and Contact 2 notice values of £20.45 million, represents an estimated allocation and is provided for indicative purposes only.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 21 Mar 2031, 23:59 GMT.
- How the procedure runs: This Procurement is for light touch services and will be carried out using the Competitive Flexible Procedure. It will consist of a two-stage tender, with no restrictions on who can participate. a. Stage One: Invitation to Tender & Conditions of Participation b. Stage Two: Interview Stage
CPV: Legal services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£34,083,333
- Economic & financial standing
Legal Capacity:
The Authority requires Bidders to:
- comply with all statutory and regulatory obligations relevant to the provision of legal services in the UK;
- be registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority;
- not have any undischarged decisions by the SRA against the organisation or any key personnel.
Financial Capacity:
The Authority requires Bidders to:
- have a minimum annual turnover of £8 million in each of the last two completed financial years
- have positive net assets in the most recent completed financial year
- not be, or have been in the past 6 years, subject to insolvency proceedings
- confirm and that there has been no material adverse change in its financial position since the date of the last published accounts
- Technical & professional ability
Detail the systems that you have in place, or that you will have in place by the award of the contract, to ensure compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and to ensure the protection of the rights of data subjects.
Please provide details of the technical facilities and measures (including systems and processes and cyber security certifications) you have in place or will have in place by contract award.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Quality: 70%
- Interview: 5%
- Price: 25%
Published award criteria (3)
- Quality
- Price
- Interview
- Economic & financial standing
Legal Capacity:
The Authority requires Bidders to:
- comply with all statutory and regulatory obligations relevant to the provision of legal services in the UK;
- be registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority;
- not have any undischarged decisions by the SRA against the organisation or any key personnel.
Financial Capacity:
The Authority requires Bidders to:
- have a minimum annual turnover of £8 million in each of the last two completed financial years
- have positive net assets in the most recent completed financial year
- not be, or have been in the past 6 years, subject to insolvency proceedings
- confirm and that there has been no material adverse change in its financial position since the date of the last published accounts
- Technical & professional ability
Detail the systems that you have in place, or that you will have in place by the award of the contract, to ensure compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and to ensure the protection of the rights of data subjects.
Please provide details of the technical facilities and measures (including systems and processes and cyber security certifications) you have in place or will have in place by contract award.
- Price carries 25 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 21 Mar 2031
- First published
- 31 Oct 2025, 15:43 GMT
- Last source update
- 22 May 2026, 15:52 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 30 Jun 2026
- Authority reference
SWE10547- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-017653- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05d84eFind a Tender
- How it runs
This Procurement is for light touch services and will be carried out using the Competitive Flexible Procedure. It will consist of a two-stage tender, with no restrictions on who can participate.
a. Stage One: Invitation to Tender & Conditions of Participation
b. Stage Two: Interview Stage
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 9 Apr 2026, 12:30 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 26 Mar 2026, 12:30 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Please submit your responses on the following: in-tendhost.co.uk/socialworkengland/as… ↗
Timeline
31 Oct 2025 → 22 Jul 2026 · 10 dates- Planning notice published363 days ago31 Oct 2025, 15:43 GMT
- Next notice expected296 days ago5 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Tender notice published244 days ago27 Feb 2026, 08:47 GMT
- Clarification questions by217 days ago26 Mar 2026, 12:30 GMT
- Submission deadline203 days ago9 Apr 2026, 12:30 BST
- Assessment summaries sent160 days ago22 May 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published160 days ago22 May 2026, 15:52 BST
- Standstill ends147 days ago3 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Award decision expected by120 days ago30 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts99 days ago22 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
14 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 31 Oct 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published31 Oct 2025, 15:43 GMTUK2
- Planned procurement notice published1 Dec 2025, 16:25 GMTUK3
- Published value updated to £34,083,3331 Dec 2025, 16:25 GMTwas £34,083,330
- Status changed to planned1 Dec 2025, 16:25 GMT
- Procurement method changed1 Dec 2025, 16:25 GMT
- Deadline published: 28 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT1 Dec 2025, 16:25 GMT
- Planned procurement notice published5 Dec 2025, 10:38 GMTUK3
- Deadline moved to 28 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT5 Dec 2025, 10:38 GMT+0 days · was 28 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Tender notice published27 Feb 2026, 08:47 GMTUK4
- Status changed to active27 Feb 2026, 08:47 GMT
- Deadline moved to 9 Apr 2026, 12:30 BST27 Feb 2026, 08:47 GMT+39 days · was 28 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract award notice published22 May 2026, 15:52 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete22 May 2026, 15:52 BST
- Contract signature expected4 Jun 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Published amendments (1)
The scope of this requirement has been expanded to provide additional context.
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2025-12: 1 release · 1 Dec 2025
- 2025-10: 1 release · 31 Oct 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capsticks Solicitors LLP7 Jul 2026 – 6 Jul 2029 · up to 6 Jul 2031Extensions: Up to two (2) twelve month extensions are available, for a maximum of 24 months. | £17,041,666 | 22 May 2026standstill to 3 Jun 2026 | Standstill |
| KINGSLEY NAPLEY LLP7 Jul 2026 – 6 Jul 2029 · up to 6 Jul 2031Extensions: Up to two (2) twelve month extensions are available, for a maximum of 24 months. | £17,041,666 | 22 May 2026standstill to 3 Jun 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders · 6 at stage one | 0 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- wonCAPSTICKS SOLICITORS LLP · Greater London
- wonKINGSLEY NAPLEY LLP · Greater London
- did not winBLAKE MORGAN LLP · South East England
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
3 commercial parties on the notice · 2 awarded- BLAKE MORGAN LLPBidder / tenderer
- CAPSTICKS SOLICITORS LLPAwarded supplier
- KINGSLEY NAPLEY LLPAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender